Red Hook Annointed. Again.
How many articles can be written about Red Hook’s arrival as a hip neighborhood? One more, at least, as this week’s issue of Time Out NY demonstrates by putting the former industrial waterfront nabe on the cover. The formula for these things is pretty straightforward: Note the area’s gritty history, document the arrivale of the…
How many articles can be written about Red Hook’s arrival as a hip neighborhood? One more, at least, as this week’s issue of Time Out NY demonstrates by putting the former industrial waterfront nabe on the cover. The formula for these things is pretty straightforward: Note the area’s gritty history, document the arrivale of the gentrifiers and changes to the retail landscape and set of the inevitable drama over the fight over the future of the neighborhood’s soul. To give them credit, the story is accompanied by a fairly good overview of neighborhood dining and drinking attractions all with a friendly map.
Red Hook Special: On the Hook [Time Out NY]
Essential Red Hook [Time Out NY]
Are there any rentals deals left in Red Hook. Craigslist doesnt suggest so.
I used to roller blade around Red Hook all the time. The roads were well paved, flat, and empty. Today the traffic on Van Brunt to get to Fairway was annoying. My husband & I have a few spots in Red Hook that we love and some of the changes are great for the neighborhood. I miss how quiet the streets used to be but enjoy shopping at Fairway.
I live in cobble hill and frequently head over to columbia street waterfront area, and barely feel like i left my neighborhood. i’d associate that area with cobble hill / caroll gardens more than red hook. the BBT is definitely a mental divide of the two areas. no question about it.
I agree with the original brownstoner post. Another story about ‘How Hot Red Hook Is’. Ho-hum.
Regarding the Red Hook vs. Carroll Gardens West issue, as a resident of Red Hook I don’t consider anything north of the BBT or east of Hamilton Ave. part of Red Hook. These are fairly distinct boundaries and the two neighborhoods have a different feel, like combustiblegirl mentioned.
It’s also not that far of a walk as cobblestoner reported. If you get off at the Carroll Garden F/G stop and walk to 4th place and Henry, there’s a pedestrian bridge that crosses the expressway and tunnel entrance. From the other side of the bridge Van Brunt St is only 3 blocks away. It takes me about 15 minutes.
This weekend is the Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival and there is an Open Studio walking tour of the neighborhood, so I encourage anyone interested in seeing Red Hook to come on down and walk around. http://www.BWAC.org has a map of the area with all the studio addresses. I’m biased towards the Coffey Park Artists Collective at 14 Verona Street and highly recommend stopping by!
And there is also a bus that runs down Union to the Slope (and then I think to Crown Heights?) It doesn’t run enough, though. I think that Columbia Street Waterfront and Red Hook are two distinct neighborhoods. It is rare to walk down Columbia into the heart of Red Hook. Unless you HAVE TO go to the stupid post office since we don’t have one of our own! Personally, I take the bus when I have to get to Van Brunt–the BQE separates the two nabes although it is possible to stroll down if you know the route.
@11:00AM
I don’t think that CGW/Columbia Waterfront/North Red Hook area really lacks access to public transportation as poorly as reported. Bourough Hall is about a 15-20 minute walk, and the Bergen Street F/G is only 10 minutes or so. Plus buses run on Hicks and on Court Street (although I don’t take them, I take the 4/5 or 2/3 from BH).
I definitely agree that the southern part of Red Hook past the BBT is cutoff, however. I would also agree that from a walking standpoint the BBT definitely does break up the neighborhood and can act as a visual divide.
my apology for the double negative – meant to say that they’ve got their heads up their butts.
keep fishing, howell, just keep fishing.
aw, geez louise, i’ve been referring to the times as “THE real estate organ of NYC!” for some time now.
of course, they catch on really late in the game, but still … and i’ll betcha a majority of times staffers would scoff at the idea that the gray lady is NOT in favor of organic growth – the frauds!
Columbia Street actually runs all the way from Carrol Gardens West through Red Hook and becomes the big hook shaped pier that helps define Erie Basin. You can walk to it’s restaurant row from Red Hook proper by going straight down Van Brunt without ever having to deal with the highway. That said, as a resident of Red Hook I would say I think of the stretch of Columbia Street where Alma, etc, are more as an adjacent neighborhood. Much like the North Slope and the South South Slope or more to the point the North Slope and Prospect Heights (which years back was considered part of Park Slope). CGW was part and parcel of Red Hook before the BQE so it’s not technically wrong to think of it as Red Hook but I do think it has the feel of a different neighborhood.